


Pros of Italian Skin

by withinmelove



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Caretaking, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2014-11-09
Packaged: 2018-02-24 18:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2592347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withinmelove/pseuds/withinmelove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris gets sunburned cue Zach to the rescue as usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pros of Italian Skin

Zach sighed, feeling content as he strolled behind Chris from one tourist shop to another. Despite the usual excuse of doing a press tour in order to see one another, this time around they were on vacation together, in a place that was not the United States. Finland had been Zach’s choice, and while Chris had wanted to go somewhere warmer, the older man had convinced him to come along, despite the fact it wasn’t somewhere toasty like Mexico. As was per usual, the useless knicknacks and toys were cheaply made and ridiculously pricey, but he found he couldn’t muster his usual cynicism on the matter, not with the blinding blue sky and drowsy heat keeping him complacent.

Chris seemed to realize the gift of Zach’s silence for what it was because he proceeded to drag him everywhere, sensing that the older man wasn’t in the mood to complain about it. It wasn’t until they were in a thankfully air-conditioned bookstore that Zach found his voice and stated that he was going to relax in the coffee shop. The golden-blond man grinned and nodded as he gravitated towards the bookshelves, his mind already on what he could uncover in amongst the shelves of this unexplored shop. The puppy-like adoration Chris had for books was endearing and one that Zach couldn’t help indulging when he was able to do so. Therefore, when an hour passed with no reappearance of the blond, Zach wasn’t concerned about it. He knew Chris could easily spend the entire day in here exploring its nooks and crannies, and besides that, Zach wasn’t in a hurry to leave his squishy armchair. Now that he had his legs thrown over the arm, his back against the other one, his feet were starting to ache from the long sightseeing-walk. At the same time, the barista who had served him his coffee seemed unable to be subtle with her staring, which was starting to annoy him. He was looked at enough through camera lens'; he did not need this obvious and frankly creepy staring right now. It was with a groan that he heaved himself to his aching feet that oh-so-nicely complained about the cut-short reprieve, and set off to find Chris. If the barista knew Zach’s face it was likely Chris was either hiding or buried beneath a swarm of fans. Zach chuckled, no, more likely he was agonizing over how many books he could buy and realistically shove into his backpack on the plane. Besides, if any fans had seen Chris he would have heard a shout at the very least.

Five minutes later, he found the younger man on the upstairs level of the shop sprawled on a squishy couch, moments away from being scolded by one of the workers. An apologetic smile and wave got the worker to leave though not without a parting frown.

“Come on, Chris. You may be Kirk, but you can’t sleep on the bookstore couch like a homeless guy.” Zach teased gently shaking his shoulder, faintly surprised at the heat Chris’ skin gave off through his muscle shirt, recognizing it a moment later as sunburn. He rolled his eyes. Of course, either Chris had forgotten to put sunscreen on or had thought he didn’t need it, and what with all the walking they had done probably ended up getting a bit of heat stroke. “How do you feel?”

The mumbled reply of  
“Dizzy and nauseous.” confirmed his suspicions, though it was a bit difficult to understand seeing as Chris still had his face pressed firmly against the fake leather. Zach sighed as he ruffled his hair, relieved that his own Italian skin allowed him to tan far more easily than burn.

“I’ll buy you a water, but we’re going to have to walk back. I didn’t bring anything with me and I know you only grabbed enough cash for a couple of books.” Zach stated, and Chris groaned in response, putting his head between his knees as soon as he managed to sit up.

Five minutes later he and Chris are heading back, Zach carrying Chris’ purchases and holding his hand, the younger man near-about glued to his side. It had become quite clear how shaky Chris was from dehydration, and god knows Zach didn’t want him stumbling into traffic because of it. By the time they made it back to their room Chris was quite green around the gills from all the walking, breathing in the open mouthed way one about to puke does, making Zach scramble to get a trashcan beside the bed just in case. The easy part was getting Chris to lay on his back; the harder part was coaxing him to start drinking the bottle of water put into his hands.

“Come on, Chris, you need to drink that, it’s the only way you’re going to feel less sick. And take your shirt off; I’m going to get some aloe,” Zach ordered him, though it was obvious Chris wasn’t going to stay awake much longer despite him half about to drown himself from the way he was trying to drink the water while not sitting up. The older man shook his head, and with a few clicks on the thermostat turned the A/C higher before he was out the door.

He was glad to see a now-shirtless Chris and an empty water bottle on the bedside table when he returned, the blond out cold by this point. Zach couldn’t help chuckling as he sat down at Chris’ hip, squeezing the gel onto his fingers. What a way it would be to start, he thought with a smirk, as he applied a generous amount of the green tinted goo to Chris’ dark pink shoulders and arms. He followed with a few careful precise swipes of his index and middle finger over Chris’ cheeks and forehead before he capped the gel and gazed down at the unconscious man. No sense in getting his chest quite yet he’d just end up smearing it on the sheets anyway. Zach had a final grin at that thought, before he settled down to read, thankful that they hadn't gone to Mexico. What a mess _that_ would have been.

**Author's Note:**

> *applause for K* my lovely beta who doesn't seem to get tired of my works


End file.
